§ Mr. GillTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons(a) Jordan, (b) Syria, (c) Lebanon and (d) the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are excluded from the list of countries eligible for Millennium Gift Aid; and if he will make a statement. [84903]
§ Ms HewittThe Millennium Gift Aid scheme (MGA) was introduced in 1998 as part of the Government's138W initiative to relieve the debt burden in developing countries. MGA provides tax relief for donations to UK charities for educational and anti-poverty projects in the world's poorest countries. The relief applies to the 80 countries that are eligible for lending either by the International Development Association (IDA), or jointly by the IDA and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both organisations of the World Bank. Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not on the World Bank list.
On 6 April 1999 the Chancellor announced that MGA is to be extended to cover donations to UK charities to help the Kosovan refugees. This is in response to the urgent humanitarian crisis in Kosovo and to assist charities with their emergency fund-raising appeals. There are no plans to add further to the causes that are eligible for MGA.
There is a range of tax reliefs for giving to charity, apart from MGA, which apply to all charitable causes. In addition, the Review of Charity Taxation has proposed extending the advantages of MGA to all charitable causes after 31 December 2000.